In this house made of redwood, the furnishings are all very old.
Only the bed wrapped in red thorns looks brand new.
Rogel stepped forward.
Through the gaps in the red thorns, you could see a middle-aged man lying on the bed, also pale. Unconscious.
On his neck and near his heart, the thorny rose stems had fused with his body, showing a blood-colored glow, transporting nutrients like veins.
"The people in other houses are in the sa situation."
Lina said gravely after returning from checking the other rooms.
It seems that the island is not uninhabited or completely lifeless; instead, they are all cursed like Mira, unconscious, trapped on the thorny beds.
"These rose stems seem to be extracting people’s blood."
Noemi said.
"Should we cut them down?" Yas asked, frowning. "We must try to wake soone up, or we won’t know anything."
"Don’t rush." Rogel left the room, calmly said, "Let’s split up and search. Yas, co with to check where that group went."
"Lina, Noemi, you go see if there are any clues in other parts of the town."
The group responded and quickly began to act.
Rogel took Yas and the unconscious Mira, following the direction in which the rotting flower spirits left.
Soon, they made a discovery.
This is the center of the town.
Here, there is a massive, flower-bed-like structure built from earthen walls.
Within this flowerbed, a colossal red thorn tree nearly a hundred ters tall was in full bloom, with extrely thick roots.
In the soil near the roots, so rotting petals and withered branches could be seen.
Presumably, those rotting flower spirits disappeared here.
Beside the massive flowerbed, an oddly looking old lady sat on a bench made of thorns.
She seed to notice Rogel and the others approaching.
The old lady slowly opened her eyes, revealing blood-red pupils.
Her lips moved, her voice hoarse yet gentle,
"...Those who ca because of the curse, I am sorry..."
...
Blood-colored murky pool.
Roses of thorns blooming all around.
Mira felt everything in front of her was so familiar; she seed to have been here before.
But, unlike before, the blood pool was now larger.
Suddenly, an abrupt change occurred.
From the blood pool, eyes wrapped in rose petals erged one after another, accompanied by overlapping eerie voices.
"Heheh... You stupid girl... How did you end up here again, truly worriso..."
"Ah! Why co back! Do you want to die that much?! Get out!"
"Because of you, I have to endure one more layer of nightmares..."
These voices seed to carry endless madness, as if coming from soone on the brink of a ntal breakdown.
Mira’s heartbeat skipped, instinctively wanting to use Spirit Language, but there was no response.
She glanced at her hand in astonishnt and suddenly realized her body had sohow turned blood-red like water, just like a person ford by blood.
"What is this..."
"Am I here because of the curse’s influence?"
Unlike last ti when she fell into an unusual state,
This ti, Mira, seemingly because of her strengthened spirit, was very clear-headed and quickly made a guess.
After taking a few deep breaths, she organized her thoughts in her mind and observed her surroundings.
The sharp, harsh voices persisted.
However, they didn’t affect Mira.
"I should now be in so kind of Spiritual Body state..."
"And it seems that, for now, there shouldn’t be any danger. As for my body, with Yas and the captain’s protection, there certainly won’t be a problem."
"The rose... Judging from the surroundings, it should be related to the curse on ."
"Perhaps I should find a way to leave here."
After pondering for a while, Mira thought.
Though she knew the chances were slim, she had to try; it’s better than standing around doing nothing.
She started to observe her surroundings, even boldly touching the eye roses.
However, she made no progress, unable to touch those eye roses at all.
Moreover, the blood pool was limited; she couldn’t proceed further after reaching a certain point.
But Mira didn’t beco anxious because of this.
Instead, she began to attempt other things.
Ti slowly slipped away.
The length of ti passed is unknown.
Mira, above the blood pool, suddenly brightened her eyes: "These flowers with eyes seem to be an extension of so kind of Spiritual Power."
"Perhaps I could... establish a connection with the source through them?"
"But this is very dangerous."
Thinking of this, Mira cald herself down.
She now had a vague premonition, or it could be called a guess.
The blood pool and the surrounding environnt should represent her Spiritual Space.
If true, once she established connection through these eye roses with the unknown source, she would face unknown dangers.
It was undoubtedly a highly perilous move.
Mira didn’t want to sit and wait for death, nor did she want things to worsen because of herself.
After all, she believed Yas and Rogel were already searching Rose Island for ways to remove her curse.
"Forget it, I should wait for now."
Thinking of this, Mira cald down.
...
"The curse on this girl cannot be lifted..."
Looking at Yas and Mira, the old lady sighed.
"Why?"
Upon hearing this, Yas looked at her coldly, finding it hard to restrain himself had Rogel not been present.
"...The curse on the girl is the sa as the curse on the residents of Rose Town."
"As long as the root of the curse isn’t removed, the Blood-sucking Roses will continue to spread..."
She said.
"Sorry." Rogel calmly interrupted, "Could you explain the story from start to finish?"
"I suppose Doyle didn’t send here just for sightseeing."
Upon hearing Rogel,
Upon hearing the na "Doyle", the old lady’s pupils constricted, staring intently at Rogel.
"Are you saying, the curse on this girl was planted by Doyle?"
Rogel nodded slightly, "If nothing unexpected happened, it should indeed be him."
Upon hearing these words, the old lady’s hands trembled, her lips pressed together, eyes a bit dazed, her expression pained.
"He... why did he beco like this... could it be he also..."
"Calm down."
Rogel’s expression remained calm, his steady voice awakening her, "Tell everything you know about the curse, and about Doyle."
After a long pause, the old lady finally regained her senses, narrating the ins and outs with a somber expression.
...
Her na was Gaisinya, once a mber of the transcendent organization ’Eclipse’, and was in a relationship with Luther, an Alchemist researching Magic Potions.
Both were from Rose Town, growing up together, deeply in love.
Luther was a highly accomplished Alchemist, developing nurous Magic Potion Recipes, making outstanding contributions to both Eclipse and the entire human Extraordinary community.
For human Extraordinaries, he was a hero, a role model.
But for the ever-growing Church forces of the Sea of Confession, he was a thorn in their side, an unremovable splinter in the flesh.
As ti slipped by, the Church’s power grew ever more vast.
Many could see clearly, the end for human Extraordinaries was near.
But the nurous mbers of "Eclipse" chose neither to give up nor to retreat, holding onto the belief that a miracle would occur.
Yet many things in this world don’t go as one wishes.
"Eclipse" was destroyed by the Church, nurous mbers captured, tied to stakes, turned to charred ruins under public gaze.
Gaisinya and Luther barely escaped the final battle, but Luther was afflicted with the bizarre curse from a Church deity.
This curse originated from a Favored of the Extre Night Stars.
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